Yemisi Olusina
The 9th edition of the Lagos State Annual Climate Change Summit has ended with 16 recommendations for the State to reduce Greenhouse emissions and associated impacts.
The recommendations include calls on the state government to incorporate resilience to long term impacts of climate change and extreme weather events into the planning and implementation of Lagos Infrastructure Development Initiatives; consider the adoption of the G20 Quality Infrastructure Investment (QII) Principles that enable Cities create a strong foundation for achieving sustainable, resilience and inclusive growth, organize dialogue sessions with the Private sector to map out strategies for climate finance in the State; engage the Federal Government to develop mechanism for accessing Green Fund; while Physical Planning Authorities should embrace the integration of the value of natural capital into Urban Planning and Development in Lagos.
The summit harped on the need for Lagos to take the lead in renewable energy, put in place Action Plan with a robust Legal Framework to ensure food security in the State; promote Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) as a panacea for addressing Climate Change induced food insecurity.
The participants advised Lagos to launch its Green Climate Fund, accelerate efforts at issuing its first green bond to facilitate investment to climate change response; while also exploring the opportunities of using fiscal instruments including carbon taxes to raise funds for climate finance.
The state was also advised to maximise the use of her waterways for mass transportation to reduce greenhouse gas emissions; and to do more for infrastructure development to have dedicated greener corridors as it speaks to the minds of citizens.
